In Which Darcy Almost Kills Johnny Storm (Again)
by Bespectacled BriarRose
Summary: Darcy and Bucky go to a gala with the rest of the Avengers, and a certain firey hero is there. Suddenly the gala isn't quite so elegant, anymore. Set in the "Three A.M." universe. Wintershock. Light swearing.


**Darcy**

"Hey, Darce," said Jane absently as the brunette shoved a cup of coffee into the scattered scientist's hand. "Thanks. Hey, can you please help me find the file on Tony's ridiculous experiment of poking Heimdall in the side until he did his bidding? I need to reference the way the Bifrost operates again."

"You got it, even though I'm not your assistant anymore and there are totally lab monkeys who could do this for you," replied Darcy with a laugh. She moved over to the file cabinet and pulled the file labelled 'Poking the Gatekeeper with a Stick' out of the drawer labelled "Why the Actual Fuck is Tony Known as a Genius". "Here you go. Don't forget, fancy city ball thing is in eight hours, and Pepper made hair appointments for us. If you're late, I will kill you."

"Got it," laughed the scientist as she took the folder from Darcy. "I promise I won't get sucked into Science! today." Darcy just kissed her friend on the cheek before bouncing out of the lab and heading back to the kitchen to start lunch.

 **.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.**

There was a clatter just as Darcy stacked the last sandwich on the large pile that she had made for the Avengers for lunch. She peeked around the slightly ridiculous amount of sandwiches to find a pile-up of muscle-y Avengers in the doorway, arguing over who would get to the sandwiches first. She laughed as she moved around the counter to help her boys up.

"You guys are idiots, you know. There's enough for everyone," she said, taking Clint's hand and pulling him out from between Steve and the doorframe before pushing Tony the other way and pulling Steve off of Bucky. "Hey babe," she said, helping Bucky to his feet. She went up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his slightly stubbly jaw. "You need to shave before tonight, don't forget." He rolled his eyes and kissed the top of her head before making a beeline for the sandwiches.

"You didn't need to shove me into the hallway," Tony grumbled as Sam stepped over the indignant engineer. Darcy laughed and held out a hand to help him up. He ruffled her hair with a small grin before sprinting into the kitchen to wrestle for his sandwiches. Darcy leaned in the doorway to watch her boys, now joined by Coulson and – holy shit, was Logan in there too? She shook her head and smiled to herself. Bucky strolled over to her, a plate piled high with sandwiches and chips in one hand.

"Delicious grub, doll. Thank you," he said, wrapping an arm around her. She cuddled into his side as he set the plate on the small counter area next to him and began to inhale the food. A few moments later, Natasha, Pepper, Jane, and Bruce walked in. They rolled their eyes at the depleted pile of sandwiches.

"There's a bowl of salad in the fridge, and some grilled chicken in the bowl next to the stove," said Darcy, having made a contingency plan for the consumption of all of the sandwiches.

"Thanks Darce," said Pepper with a grin. "Our hair appointments are in an hour, Happy is going to drive us." Darcy nodded and wormed her way out from under Bucky's arm to grab some food for herself.

The Avengers decimated the sandwiches and salad, and Darcy curled into Bucky's side as they stood on the outskirts of the group.

"Hey, Darce?" said Bucky, wrapping his metal arm around Darcy's waist. "You sure you're gonna be okay tonight?"

Darcy shrugged, "I should be alright, James. As long as I've got you at my back, I should be fine." Darcy grinned up at her boyfriend. She went up on her toes to press a kiss to his jaw, but he obviously had a better plan as he tilted his head down to catch her lips with his own. Darcy went slightly boneless as Bucky pulled her against the hard planes of his chest. She ran her fingers down his metal arm, lacing her fingers through his.

"No hanky-panky in my kitchen!" exclaimed Tony, exasperation in his voice. "I've told you two a hundred times; what don't you get about it?" Darcy pulled away from Bucky, leaving him with puckered lips and eyes half open. She rolled her eyes at Bucky and pressed a kiss to his cheek before whisking through the room to collect dirty dishes.

"Darcy, you have a hair appointment. You are not doing dishes," scolded Bucky, swatting her ass lightly with a towel as he shooed her towards Jane. "Go put in all of the unnecessary effort that you ladies seem to love wasting precious time you don't need to waste on it because you're all already gorgeous." Darcy rolled her eyes and hooked arms with Jane and Natasha as Pepper herded them out the door.

"We'll meet you boys outside the gala hall at seven!" the strawberry blonde called over her shoulder. "Steve, Bruce, make sure they're all ready to go on time!" There were indignant cries from the other guys, and the girls laughed.

 **.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.**

Darcy peeked over the magazine she was looking at to see Pepper lounging under a hair dryer, her gold French tips splayed out on her yoga-pant clad legs to finish setting. Pepper looked over at her, and Darcy ducked back behind her magazine. She was also under one of the big hair dryers, comically large curlers holding her thick, dark hair on the top of her head. She peeked over her magazine again to see Pep grinning at her.

"You having fun there, beauty queen?" Pepper joked, laughing.

Darcy set her magazine down on her lap with a giggle. "Mayyyybeeee. You sure we're gonna be ready in time? I'm not doubting your organization skills, but I'm just worried about tonight, you know?"

Pepper gave a sympathetic smile, "Don't worry, sweetheart. We'll be there, and it'll be okay." Darcy smiled at Pepper just as the stylist, Jeashelle, came in and turned off Darcy's dryer.

"Come on, Miss Lewis. Let's get your hair and makeup finished for this party tonight," she said, leading Darcy back towards the stylist chair.

The two of them chatted animatedly while Jeashelle finished Darcy's updo, which was a riot of curls and braids twisted into a bun on the back of her head, with a few curls hanging loose to frame her face. "Jeashelle, I love it!" gushed Darcy, clapping her hands together in excitement. "Thank you so much!"

"Of course, sweetie," drawled the short Asian woman. Jeashelle brushed a strand of her own long dark hair out of her face before pulling a cart that overflowed with makeup brushes and products closer. "Now, I'm thinking a smoky eye?" Darcy settled in to let Jeashelle work her magic.

 **.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.**

 **Bucky**

Bucky stood around outside the large building with the other guys, waiting for their dates to show up. Bruce, Sam, and Steve's dates had already shown up, with Maria Hill accompanying Sam, some scientist named Helen Cho was accompanying Bruce, and Steve had asked Monica Rambeau to accompany him. The woman formerly known as Captain Marvel was wearing a silver dress that stood out against her dark skin, and Bucky raised an eyebrow when he saw Steve unable to keep his eyes off of her. Finally, at seven on the dot, a black limo pulled up, and Happy rushed around to open the door and help the ladies out. Pepper emerged first, her gold dress nearly causing Tony to start panting like a dog, followed by Jane, to whom Thor rushed over to escort away from the car. Natasha slinked out of the limo like a cat, her black dress draping elegantly over her figure. She looked at Bucky and nodded, which meant that he looked good. He raised an eyebrow in return, which made her smile as Clint held out his arm for her to take. Bucky quickly moved over to the limo, nudging Happy out of the way to help Darcy out of the car. This was the first time he was seeing her all done up, and goddamn he wanted to be the first to see her. She took his hand and stepped out of the vehicle, and it was all he could do to keep breathing. Her hair was done up in a wild bun, and her lips were painted a succulent shade of dark red. She was wearing a dark gray dress with a high collar and no sleeves, and silver-toed shoes peeked out from under the hem of her dress.

"Hi," she said shyly, eyes slightly downcast as he continued to hold her hand and stare at her. He tried to speak, but nothing would come out. He must have looked like a fish. Well there goes impressing his girl at their first real public appearance together. Darcy smiled at him, though, and pressed her lips lightly against his cheek. "You clean up nice, Jim," she said, using his least favorite of her many nicknames for him. She wiped lightly at his cheek, presumably to get rid of any lipstick on his face. Her hand lingered there, and he smiled at her. She was much closer to his height in those shoes, and so he had to crane his neck less. Not that he minded her usual shorter stature, it was just nice sometimes.

"You look beautiful," he managed to finally say, offering his elbow for her to grip onto. She grinned at him, and it took his breath away again. They made their way into the gala, and were greeted with applause and cheering. Bucky was never really good at these social things, so he looked helplessly at Darcy, who looked back at him just as helplessly. They both then turned to Tony and Pepper, who were effortlessly working the room. Darcy apparently managed to catch Pepper's eye, and she and Tony swooped over and whisked Bucky and Darcy away with them. They were introduced to many people, as well as carefully steered away from wherever Ben Grimm indicated to them that Johnny was.

They finally managed to catch a breather with Clint and Natasha not too far away from the bar. "A scotch on the rocks, please," Darcy said to the bartender. The older man smiled at her and set her drink in front of her. She gave him a bright smile and turned back to their little group. Bucky rested his hand on her waist, and she pressed closer to his side. He pressed his face into the top of her head as she chattered on to Nat and Clint about some crazy thing that had happened in the office the other day. "And then FitzSimmons came running in, only to find that we were all covered in a thin layer of the weird orange foamy stuff. As soon as they walked in, a bunch of green feathers dropped from the ceiling above where Fury was standing, getting stuck to his head. He looked like an angry Oompa Loompa, and Leo took one look at him before turning tail and running." Clint and Natasha burst out into laughter, and Darcy took a sip of her drink. She exhaled heavily, and Bucky looked down at her in concern. "Don't worry, James. It's just a bit strong." He nodded and pressed his hand against the bare skin of her back. His discovery that her dress had no back whatsoever had been a very happy one for him. The high collar of her dress was the only thing keeping her dress up, and he was _so_ looking forward to undoing those two silk buttons holding it closed when they got back to the tower.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Darcy Lewis and the cyborg," came an acidic voice from behind them. Darcy tensed, and Bucky tightened his arm around her. The two of them turned to face the owner of the voice, Darcy plastering a fake smile on her dark red lips. It was actually sort of a terrifying smile, if Bucky really thought about it.

"Hello Johnny," she said, her voice tight. "How nice to see you. I don't think you've ever been formally introduced to my boyfriend, James Barnes."

"Nice to meet you off the battlefield, Storm," said Bucky, his hand tracing what he hoped would be soothing circles on Darcy's back.

"Barnes. I see you two are doing quite well. It was _so_ nice to see you both again," he said, arm slung over his date's shoulders as he turned to lead her away. "That cow back there? She wouldn't get off my dick for the _longest_ time a couple months back. Now she's dating that Russian cyborg freak." Darcy tensed next to him, and Bucky knew she had heard what Storm said.

"James, hold my drink," she growled, shoving her half-drunk scotch into his hand. She fished a small device out of her purse and stalked towards Storm. "Hey! Hothead!" Storm turned around to face Darcy, fear flashing briefly across his face before he straightened up.

"Hey, Ange, why don't you go get yourself another drink, alright?" he said, sending his date away. Bucky knocked back the rest of Darcy's drink and moved backwards to quietly order two more. "What do you want, Lewis?"

Darcy stalked right up to Storm, poking a finger into the center of his chest. "You, sir, are a fucking asshole. And a liar."

"I don't know what you mean." Bucky noticed the rest of the Avengers gathered near the faceoff, which was quickly garnering more and more attention from both the other superheroes and New York's elite.

Darcy poked him hard in the chest and actually _snarled_ , "You just insulted both myself and my boyfriend again."

The whole ballroom had become quiet, and the Avengers along with Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, and Steve's date Monica were urging people to give the two space. Storm laughed, actually bending over and clutching at his stomach. Bucky moved to go back Darcy up, but Clint held his shoulder, keeping him in place for the moment.

"Oh, Darcy. Sweet Darcy. I didn't say anything of the sort. I know you took our breakup so hard, but even I can't believe you're stooping so low as to accuse me of insulting you and an elderly man." Bucky set his teeth, trying to suppress the animalistic urge to growl. "I mean, it's not my fault that you couldn't handle me leaving you and turned to find comfort in a fucked up old man with a robot arm." Clint released Bucky's shoulder at this point, and, setting the drinks down on the bar, surged forward to stand near Darcy. She looked up at him and gave him a small, genuine smile before turning back to Storm.

"Listen here, asswipe," she said, moving forward so that Storm had to back up or be stepped on by her spiked heels. "Like I said before, you can fucking insult me all you want, and I won't give a single damn. But not only are you insulting my boyfriend, you chose to insult both an American _hero_ by calling him a 'cyborg' and an old man, as well as this entire room of people by choosing to spin such terrible lies. Everyone here already knows that you were the one who stalked, emotionally manipulated, and verbally attacked me. But why, when I'm so obviously a 'cow' and not even in your league? Well guess what, John, _you're_ the one who's being settled for." Johnny actually looked scared, and Bucky bared his teeth in an approximation of a grin. Darcy turned to face Storm's date, who was currently cowering behind Sue. "Angela, I know you're better than this. Ditch this asshole and find a real man, alright? You deserve so much better than him." Darcy then turned and showed Johnny the small device she still held in her hand. "You're going down again, Matchstick. Have fun." She pressed a button, and two wires shot out and began to shock the Fantastic Four member, who immediately fell to the floor, twitching.

"Darce, you gotta stop," whispered Bucky, wrapping his hand around the hand holding the device and loosening her grip. "You almost killed him, and I won't have you going away for murder." Darcy just stood there in Bucky's grip, shaking. "Come on, baby. Someone else will take care of this. I got you another drink. Or we could just go home."

She turned to him, tears brewing in her big, dark eyes. "Can-can we go home?" Bucky pocketed the very powerful, small tazer he had taken from her and nodded, leading her away.

"Hey, Pepper? We're going home now, alright?" he said, pausing as they walked past Pep and Tony.

Darcy's lip began to quiver as she looked at Pepper. "I'm so sorry, Pep," she whispered.

"Sweetheart, it's just fine. I'll take care of everything. Happy will drive you two back to the tower, alright?" Pepper brushed a strand of Darcy's hair off of her forehead and pressed a kiss there before squeezing her hand and letting Bucky escort her out.

Happy was waiting for them downstairs, and he smiled sympathetically at them. "I'll have the two of ya home in no time, alright?" Darcy gave Happy a weak smile as Bucky sat next to her, rubbing his hand in circles on her back. She leaned into him after Happy closed the door. He pressed his face into her hair as she snaked her arms around him, under his jacket.

"I'm really sorry I embarrassed you," she murmured into his shirt. Bucky stopped nuzziling her hair, and his hand froze on her back.

"Darcy, in what way do you think you could have embarrassed me?" he asked, trying to pull back to look at her. She resisted, pressing her face further into his chest. "Darcy, look at me." She pulled her face back to look up at him, and in that moment she looked so vulnerable it almost broke his heart. "Sweetheart, I am so proud of you for standing up to that asshole. You tore him down, and you looked like a goddess of vengeance doing it."

Darcy sniffled and looked up at him. "I still ruined the party, though."

"No you didn't, doll. If anyone ruined the party it was Storm for ever approaching you," replied Bucky, moving his normal hand up to caress her face. The car pulled to a stop, and Happy opened their door. The two of them got out of the car, with Bucky thanking Happy as he led Darcy upstairs. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into his side in the elevator. "I love you, Darcy. And I am so proud of you for standing up to Storm that way," he whispered into her hair. Bucky froze, then, realizing what he had said. But it was still so, so true. He kissed her temple, hiding his blush in her hair. She tilted her head up to look at him, slightly surprised. It was the first time he had told her he loved her, and he hadn't even realized it until after he said it.

"I love you, too, James," whispered Darcy, pressing her body against his. The door dinged on her floor, and she pulled him from the elevator, obviously feeling much better about the whole thing. Bucky knew that everything would come crashing down on her in the morning, but he was sure he could help her handle it then. For now, he was a bit too distracted by his girl's mouth on his neck. He fumbled with the door to her bedroom as she pulled his lips down to hers. He got the door open, and Darcy jumped into his arms, the slit on the side of her dress allowing her to wrap her legs around his waist. He groaned into her mouth as he sat on the bed, her straddling him. His hands travelled up her back, tracing patterns and words as he went. She rolled her hips against his, her fingers nimbly working the buttons on his shirt and pushing his suit jacket off of his shoulders. He bit her lip as his fingers found the buttons holding the neck of her dress together.

 _A/N- Hey loves_ _I hope you enjoy this little one-shot! I really like the universe I set up here, so I think I'm going to continue writing in here. Enjoy! All my love-Rose_


End file.
